Eating Out: A snapshot in time at the Black Horse Inn, Kirkby Fleetham

“Look son,” the gnarled and dog-eared news editor of my first paper said to me in my first week. “Never forget that whatever you’ve written might be news today but tomorrow it’ll be wrapped round haddock and chips or lining the bottom of the budgie’s cage – and you know why it’s at the bottom of the budgie’s cage don’t you? The budgie is your ultimate critic.”

Harsh, but true. And wise words indeed to a keen-as-mustard cub reporter who might have thought he was the next Carl Bernstein or Bob Woodward and about to bring down a President with the power of his fearless investigative journalism and powerful prose.

I was reminded of those prescient words recently in the darkest corner of a dark corridor of the Black Horse Inn, Kirkby Fleetham, near Northallerton, where I had spotted a past review of that establishment by yours truly.

My review. Preserved for posterity!

Well sort of. The yellowing newsprint was slipping out of the frame which was wildly askew on the wall, probably because many a diner had brushed it on the way to the gents loo. The drunker ones had knocked it off perhaps.

It looked a bit sad. It didn’t exactly have pride of place. Still, better than catching the end product of a budgie’s digestive system I guess. (Apologies to those of you who think that’s an inappropriate picture to conjure up in a food column).

Being unable to read the review in the corridor gloom I looked it up online. Back in 2016 we had enjoyed our visit. We then recalled enjoying it so much that we booked to go with friends a month later – and it was pants.

Which is why I am often loathe to make recommendations. It is the experience on one night and there is no law which says it will be replicated on the next occasion – or when your best friends go.

Which is also why I say never take too much notice of the marking below these words. It’s just a snapshot in time – and it’s anything but scientific.

The framed but yellowing review from 2016 of Black Horse Inn, Kirkby Fleetham

So how did the Black Horse measure up on this moment in time – the evening of November 17, 2021?

To be fair and no doubt slightly infuriatingly so to you, dear reader, we’re not quite sure. We think we enjoyed ourselves but it was by no means an unqualified success.

First, the good bits.

We liked the way the place is decked out. Five years ago we described the look as shabby chic and that’s still the schtick – but it’s not particularly shabby really and we had a very cosy corner table with comfy, cushioned, banquette seating in the dining room (there’s a bar area to the front where you can also eat).

And some of the food was really rather good. Like the twice baked Wensleydale souffle (£8.95) which was pillow light and cheesy as anyone could wish and the salad garnish – a great combo of pressed pear, walnut and red chicory – was actually even better.

Our other starter – Sylvia’s choice – baked queenie scallops (£9.50) served gratineed in the shell with a leek, cheddar and gruyere sauce was on a par with the souffle. Again the salad garnish was not an afterthought – the dressing was excellent.

Scampi made with a Black Sheep beer batter and proper monkfish tails (£17.95) – from the pub classics section of the menu – more than passed muster, as did the skinny chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce.

My classic coq au vin (£16.95) didn’t quite match up. The chicken was a little overcooked and the red wine sauce had been reduced down to an over-powering, sticky gunge.

A lemon meringue pie dessert (£7.50) was dead pretty and ate as well as it looked, the raspberry sorbet and candy floss being particularly good.

The lemon meringue pie dessert ate as well as it looked

So what went wrong? The service wasn’t quite there, unfortunately, although there was no lack of effort. It probably didn’t help that we were served by six different people during our meal which led to a lack of communication and, at times, some quite slow response times.

The gentleman who we think was that evening’s head honcho did that silly thing of taking our food order without writing it down. Nobody thinks that’s clever these days and what it led to was a misunderstanding with the kitchen.

Because there had been a bit of a delay after we arrived we were feeling a trifle peckish and thought we’d get some bread straight up while we waited for our starters.

We waited and waited until seeking assistance from another waiter who disappeared and returned to say the kitchen had been under the impression we wanted the rustic bread (with olives, hummus, balsamic and olive oil – £4.95) served with the other starters. Err….nope.

The bill – with a bottle of Kiwi sauvignon blanc was just shy of £90. A bit pricey for a pub we thought.

Black Horse Inn

Lumley Lane, Kirkby Fleetham, Northallerton DL7 OSH

Tel: 01609 749010 Web: blackhorseinnkirkbyfleetham

Open for dining: Monday to Saturday 5-9pm, Sunday noon-8pm

Ratings (out of ten): Food quality 8 Service 6 Surroundings 9 Value 6